384 INFORMATIVE SPEECHES FOR ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Nothing to Sneeze At
1 You feel it welling up inside you, this delicate tingling, as if your every nerve were firing
at once. You want to grope for the newspaper, your homework—anything—but you no longer
control your body.
harmony, I’ll tell you how to sneeze safely and politely.
6 Sneezing is old. Citizens of the Roman Empire sneezed, but they were only following the
tradition of the ancient Greeks, among them Aristotle, who considered the sneeze a favorable omen.
7 A sneeze worked wonders for Xenophon, the Greek historian and general. According to
the Concise Dictionary of Ancient History, in 400 B.C. Xenophon, while still a mere foot–soldier,
and Folklore devotes eleven tightly spaced, oversized pages to the subject. For example, a Zulu
who has just sneezed proclaims, “I am now blessed; the ancestral spirit is with me. It has come to
me. Let me salute it, for it is he who causes me to sneeze.”
NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT 385
10 Sneezing in India provokes a shorter, but no less salutary, response. If you were walking
soul exits through your nostrils. If no one blesses you, evil beings with a penchant for nasal drip
will snatch your spiritual essence. Natives of Motlan and Mota in the South Pacific believe this,
but our European blessing has a grimmer origin.
12 The Black Death of 590 A.D. left one half of Europe’s population dead. The bubonic plague
responsible for this holocaust didn’t kill its victims without warning. Instead, it signified its pres-
15 In addition to its physical causes, the New York Times reports a sneeze can also be
brought on by psychological and emotional factors. If a man lunged at you with a knife, fear
might make you sneeze. Once he left, your anguish and frustration over losing your valuables
could cause you to sneeze again. If you decide to chase the criminal, bring along some tissues—
the excitement could give you another sneezing fit.
given that no one carries a handkerchief any more—at least not in my social circle. Nevertheless,
when you’re in a crowded room, don’t try to stifle or abort your sneeze in the interests of social
propriety—you don’t want to stop a force going over 100 miles per hour. With the air pressure
that builds up from a stifled sneeze, people have been known to get nosebleeds, pop blood ves-
sels, or even go blind.
19 Instead, open your mouth while you sneeze so your nose doesn’t take all your force. Most
important, cover your nose. Jane Brody writes in the New York Times that “An unimpeded sneeze
sends two to five thousand bacteria–filled droplets into the air.” With a single sneeze, any one of
NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT 387
Nothing to Sneeze At
Commentary
“Nothing To Sneeze At” is a top–notch informative speech. It is interesting, clearly organized, fits well with
the guidelines discussed in Chapter 15 of the textbook, and is short enough to be discussed in a single
class session. Here is a synopsis of the speech.
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the superstitions associated with sneezing, the causes
of sneezing, and the proper way to sneeze.
Introduction: The introduction consists of paragraphs 1–5. After cleverly arousing curiosity and relating
the topic to the audience in paragraphs 1–3, the speaker reveals his topic in paragraph 4 and
previews the body of the speech in paragraph 5. His tongue–in–cheek approach to establishing
credibility in paragraph 4 is consistent with the overall tone of the speech, but some listeners
felt it should have been supplemented by a brief reference to the speaker’s research.
Body: The body is arranged topically and contains three main points, the first of which deals with su-
perstitions that have sprung up around sneezing (paragraphs 6–12). This point is particularly ef-
fective because it casts new and interesting light on what would appear to be a mundane
subject. The story about Xenophon (paragraphs 7–8) is a model of clear explanation. Rather
than assuming the audience knew about Xenophon before the speech, the speaker provides all
the necessary details. Yet he does so in a way that does not oversimplify the story for someone
already familiar with it.
The statement in paragraph 9 that “the Encyclopedia of Occult Sciences, Superstitions, and
Folklore devotes eleven tightly–spaced, oversized pages to the subject” of sneezing not only iden-
tifies the speaker’s source, but reinforces the importance of the subject. The final example of this
388 INFORMATIVE SPEECHES FOR ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
It should also be noted how well the speaker uses connectives here (and throughout the
speech) to help listeners keep track of his ideas. At the beginning of paragraph 13 he introduces
the second main point with an excellent transition (“However differently a sneeze is reacted to
speech. Fortunately, rather than just saying, “You should cover your nose when you sneeze,” the
speaker provides a wealth of colorful information that keeps the audience’s attention.
Conclusion: The conclusion consists of only two sentences (paragraph 20). The first sentence subtly
reminds the audience of the main points discussed in the body. A good question for discussion
is whether the speaker should have provided a more detailed summary here. One point of view
holds that he did not need such a summary because the body of the speech was sufficiently
clear and nontechnical. Another point of view holds that a summary is always helpful in the con-
clusion of an informative speech because it helps the audience remember what the speaker has
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